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By Steve Keating
(Reuters) - Boycotting an Olympics should be up to individual
athletes not politicians, says U.S. Alpine skiing great Lindsey
Vonn, as calls mount to move or reject the 2022 Beijing Winter
Games over China's human rights record.
A four-times Olympian, Vonn's opinion on boycotts has not
altered in retirement, believing the Games can be a catalyst for
change and spotlighting issues like China's treatment of Uighur
Muslims which Washington has called genocide.
"If athletes want to boycott that's their prerogative and their
right," Vonn told Reuters. "I think one of the great things
about the Olympics is that it can shed a lot of light on really
important topics, not just about sports."
With the Feb. 4-20 Beijing Games just seven months away, rights
groups have urged a boycott. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S.
House of representatives, has pushed for a "diplomatic boycott"
with global leaders snubbing the Olympics.
Vonn, winner of three Olympic medals including downhill gold at
the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, said she was against podium
protests.
"Allowing the athletes to protest outside of the podium, I think
is a great balance," said Vonn.
"If you think about it you're on the podium with two other
people that have equally given their life to be in that position
and you don't want to take away from that, from their victory,
and from their success."
American Vonn, 36, said she worried about the pressure on some
Olympic athletes whose mental health has been affected,
especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From Michael Phelps to Naomi Osaka and Vonn herself,
more-and-more athletes are detailing such struggles.
In Vonn's case, her dog Lucy, who often accompanied her on the
World Cup circuit, gave emotional support and comfort.
"I think that it was something that most people didn't feel like
they could talk about," said Vonn.
She is helping launch a project backed by German company
Allianz, in which skateboarders in Los Angeles who are going to
the Tokyo Olympics will be given support dogs to relieve stress.
"I know from my own experience that I didn't feel comfortable
talking about it (mental health)," Vonn said.
"More people have come out in the past few years expressing what
they were going through, especially Olympic athletes. Most would
assume (they) never had any mental health issues."
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Additional reporting by
Iain Axon in London, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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